Happy birthday Alexis!
In northern Ohio, Lexi celebrated her 10th birthday and is Casey Cares' 970th birthday this year!
Casey Cares knows that for a critically ill child, each birthday is a special milestone celebrating life. For the children in our programs, it not only marks another year, but it also demonstrates a great achievement. Casey Cares staff and volunteers work hard to send out each of our kids a special birthday package through our Birthday Blast program - we send over 1,000 a year! This simple act of kindness delivers joy and hope to our kids who are undergoing treatment.
All the Fun With Casey Cares
Casey Cares provides activities for critically ill children and their families to enjoy! To this day after joining Casey Cares in 2021, Lexi’s favorite activity has loved going to The Nutcracker Ballet at the Akron Civic Center with dinner afterwards at Luigi’s Restaurant.
Her mother, Kelly, states, “We love going to Magic of Lights as a family to help get into the Christmas spirit. Her brothers loved going to Monster Jam to watch Grave Digger and Megalodon.”
Lexi’s father Brian says that he loves that Casey Cares, “brings joy to the children during a time of stress and confusion.”
Cedar Point
The family found out about their daughter’s cancer in an unlikely place: Cedar Point.
“It all started with a trip to Cedar Point in 2020, one of the rides ruptured the tumor in her chest, that we did not know she had. She ended up in the hospital with internal bleeding and a collapsed lung,” states Brian.
The tumor was identified as synovial cell sarcoma.
The father continues, “Just after her 7th birthday she began 9 months of chemo and radiation. After 20 months she relapsed and began 6 more rounds of chemo.”
Unfortunately, the chemo was not enough for Lexi.
“She has reached the lifetime limit of chemo and radiation. Due to the location, surgery is not an option and neither is freezing the tumor. She is currently waiting to be accepted into a clinical trial in Seattle,” Brian says.
While the warrior waits for the news about the trial, she loves Christmas and singing.
Kelly and Brian have learned that one of the biggest challenges of being a parent of a child with a critical illness is “putting on a brave face to keep the children happy.”
“Also, trying to have her participate in her normal activities, such as Girl Scouts and Children’s Choir, as much as possible to stay connected and help her not miss out on her childhood,” Brian states.
Want to bring some birthday joy to children like Lexi? Donate here!